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Gulf, regional issues to top GCC Manama summit

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Manama will discuss a series of issues and suggestions to promote Gulf joint work as well as reports from the foreign ministers and other ministerial committees, the secretary-general has said.

“The latest developments in regional and international issues will also be on the agenda of the summit,” Abdul Lateef Al Zayani said ahead of the summit scheduled to convene on Monday and Tuesday.

The agenda will be finalised on Sunday when the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE hold their customary pre-summit meeting in the Bahraini capital.

Al Zayani said that the Gulf alliance established in Abu Dhabi in 1981 faced a new set of challenges that differed in their nature of those in the early days.

“The new situation of political, security and military challenges as well as the instability in the Arab region dictate that we improve the regional conditions and reinforce the stability of our countries,” he said. “The GCC countries seek to achieve five strategic objectives that include protecting all the GCC member states against regional and international threats, achieving higher levels of economic development, maintaining a high level of human development, enhancing the management of crises, emergencies and risks and consolidating the regional and international status of the GCC,” he said.

Al Zayani said that the GCC countries rejected Iran’s interference in their domestic affairs.

“The GCC reiterates its rejection and condemnation of the Iranian interference in its internal affairs,” he said. “We call upon Tehran to put an end to these negative practices and policies that exacerbate tension in the region, violate the sovereignty and independence of their member states and threaten security and stability,” he said in an interview published by Bahraini daily Al Ayam on Saturday.

The GCC chief said that Iran should be fully committed to international laws and conventions, to avoid the use of threats or force and to resort to political solutions to settle disputes.

“The GCC refuses the Iranian occupation of the three UAE islands and stresses the UAE sovereignty over them. We do deplore the absence of positive reactions from Iran to reach a settlement of the issue in a way that contributes to reinforcing security and stability in the region,” he said.

Al Zayani said that the GCC welcomed the formation of the Syrian National Coalition for Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, stressing that “the positive move would empower the opposition to move within a more clear strategy and to obtain more international support”.